May 23, 2012
Going For Gold or Going For Cash?
Maybe it's the Olympics thing, maybe it's the jubilee thing, maybe it's the warm weather a union jack bag and a can on diet irn bru with a chippy (lots of salt, sauce and vinegar please) thing, cucumber sandwiches, pork pies and staffies wearing union jacks. Who can tell and who knows?
Anyway, I was reading about all these people in Great Britain who have been nominated to carry the Olympic torch for us all to see it. My normal self wouldn't have given a hoot about it but some reason, it actually meant something to me. The ploy of installing some degree of national pride worked for a change.
I read some of the stories about the people carrying the torch and thought that it was such a huge honour to do something like that. 8,000 torch bearers are taking 8,000 torches 8,000 miles all around the UK. According to a London Olympics organiser, 95% of the population will be within 10 miles of the torch route.
I never thought I'd say this, but I actually want to go to see the Olympic flame. Part of me thinks it a bit tragic that I'm going to make the effort to go along to the edge of my small town to see it pass by, carried along by a deserving person who has been an inspiration or given something positive to their community.
However, some of the torches that have carried the Olympic flame are being sold on eBay. Ok ok, I know that they have been bought by the 'runners' so technically they are free to do what they want with them.
But is it right to sell them?
The going price (some with and some without the official torch bearer uniform) is around £9,000 although there is one advertised at £90,000. No I haven't typed too many zeros it is actually £90k now THAT is a life changing amount of money.
I will add that Sarah Milner Simonds sold her torch for £153,100 with a portion of the money going to help with her community gardening project, however it's a huge slab of dosh. Part of me is horrified that something so special and unique is being sold on eBay, while the other part of me thinks that if you aren't sentimental you are as well to have the money while it's worth something.
After all, what would you do with it anyway? Would it sit on the mantelpiece waiting to be dusted or in a gallery where people can be inspired?
Best I can do is get a glimpse of history on 13th June.
May 15, 2012
Dead as a Doornail isn't Dead in the Water
'Dead as a Doornail' is the fifth book in Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire Series and it's quite an exciting book too. The book concentrates on Sookie wanting a bit more of a quiet life. After all, so far, Sookie has had a friend murder her grandmother, fallen in love and been betrayed, been raped, slept with two vampires, been blown up, discovered that not only are vampires real, but werewolves, shapeshifters and witches too, had her brother attacked by werepanthers (its only at the beginning of this book that we find out he will shift at a new moon unlike the TV series).
I suppose after all that, I'd want a quieter life too.
However, this is so not on the cards for our Sookie, no she has more hassle and crap to put up with. Makes you wonder why she does it eh?
'Dead as a Doornail' begins with were-animals in the area being shot at. Obviously, this includes Sookie cause she hangs about with a lot of them.
There is a pack master challenge in Shreveport and the very wonderful Alcide asks Sookie for help. He needs her there to listen to people's thoughts and make sure no one will cheat, cause Jackson Herveaux is Alcide's dad and he's in the running.
Sookie gets kind of blackmailed into doing it cause he's worked out that there is a strong possibility that Sookie has something to do with Debbie Pelt's disappearing. Nice work there Alcide, gone from good guy to instant scum. However, the master of ceremonies is a were tiger called Quinn..... Hmmmm.
Sam, on the other hand has had a sly snog with Sookie, who is now convinced that vampires are bad news and are just into using her, which is quite ironic considering that as Sam has been shot he asks her to get Eric to give him a relief member of bar staff.....
After being Franklin Mott's bit of fluff in book 3, Tara has been passed off by him to another vamp called Mickey who is not really emotionally stable. She needs help to get away from him.
So, yes, you've guessed it, Sookie to the rescue again, she bargains with Eric for his help. In return, Eric asks to be told what happened when he lost his memory in book 4. Sookie does this, in what is probably one of the best bits of the book, next to Eric laughing at 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' on television.
We all know that True Blood is loosely based on the SVM, so today Day 3 I'll give you a quick run down on book 5, then tomorrow, what story lines I think will be used and how some of the other characters may develop in Season 5.
May 12, 2012
It's All About Attraction
Day Two It's All About Attraction
I mentioned in my previous blog about what attracts me to the Southern Vampire Mysteries and True Blood. How can Charlaine Harris and Alan Ball create such an appetising place to stay even though there is a town near by that produces drugs and everyone is related, loads of people get killed, possessed and can't remember a thing on nearly a daily basis?
Realistically we should consider Bon Temp to be something close to hell. It could be the huge, massive and incredibly vast amount of eye candy on offer for us to lust after. Yes I know that I'm starting with a really shallow thing, but come on you aren't going to be interested in even finding out more unless the packaging convinces you that you really NEED to open it.
And open it up you do..... Oh yeah! The fact that there are copious scenes featuring sex and nudity does make me feel a shade uncomfortable, however, that is purely cause I'm still emotionally scarred from my grandma talking in public about sex with my grandad so I avoid sex scenes when ANYONE else is present.
Which brings me, in a rather disturbing way to an article I read in 'Psychology Today' written by Susan L Smalley PhD called 'True Blood and True Life'.
It was suggested that all the characters are 'a metaphor for the diversity of life itself and our meandering through it'. At this point I felt really shallow and uneducated for merely stating that the whole Sookie Stackhouse thing grabbed my attention because the main characters were aesthetically pleasing and I liked the story lines.
So, I read on.
Apparently, Sookie is a role model because she has no hidden agenda, she does the right thing all the time. Ok, yeah that is true, but it's the same with Dorothy in 'The Wizard of Oz' and even though there is nothing more annoying than someone who is a squeaky clean, do-gooder, I don't actually hate Sookie (or Dorothy for that matter).
Bon Temp and world where True Blood is set shows us that things can be an illusion, the 'monsters' aren't always 'monsters' sometimes it's the humans. I wholeheartedly agree, there are many case when humans do things that are much more awful than than the witches, werewolves, shapeshifters or vampires. There are even cases where Bill Compton is so sweet and lovely it makes me want to barf my load.
The article goes on to suggest that hatred is fuelled by ignorance. People tend to do harm when they are greedy, angry, too proud etc or they use religion to judge others. Wow, that's a bit of an understatement. Judging others is a very crappy thing that happens everyday, making sweeping generalisations and not finding out the truth leads to a whole big box of trouble, plus it makes you feel like a total arse when it goes wrong.
True Blood shows us we tend to question who we are, we try to work out fact from fiction, illusion from truth. It's only by challenging our belief systems that we can progress in life.
Sometimes in life the abnormal and strange becomes the norm in your life. It tends to creep in subtly so that we don't notice. Then it's the normal everyday things that are most precious.
Anyway, after I read the full article, I had a coffee and pondered over what I had read. Could there really be all that in a tv program about a telepathic waitress who prefers to shag dead people rather than alive ones?
Apparently so, I actually found that I agreed with the article. The more I thought about it, the more I thought that this lady does have a point. Maybe we can learn from True Blood.
So, yeah, True Blood does have all of that and really hot actors and actresses too.
Realistically we should consider Bon Temp to be something close to hell. It could be the huge, massive and incredibly vast amount of eye candy on offer for us to lust after. Yes I know that I'm starting with a really shallow thing, but come on you aren't going to be interested in even finding out more unless the packaging convinces you that you really NEED to open it.
And open it up you do..... Oh yeah! The fact that there are copious scenes featuring sex and nudity does make me feel a shade uncomfortable, however, that is purely cause I'm still emotionally scarred from my grandma talking in public about sex with my grandad so I avoid sex scenes when ANYONE else is present.
Which brings me, in a rather disturbing way to an article I read in 'Psychology Today' written by Susan L Smalley PhD called 'True Blood and True Life'.
It was suggested that all the characters are 'a metaphor for the diversity of life itself and our meandering through it'. At this point I felt really shallow and uneducated for merely stating that the whole Sookie Stackhouse thing grabbed my attention because the main characters were aesthetically pleasing and I liked the story lines.
So, I read on.
Apparently, Sookie is a role model because she has no hidden agenda, she does the right thing all the time. Ok, yeah that is true, but it's the same with Dorothy in 'The Wizard of Oz' and even though there is nothing more annoying than someone who is a squeaky clean, do-gooder, I don't actually hate Sookie (or Dorothy for that matter).Bon Temp and world where True Blood is set shows us that things can be an illusion, the 'monsters' aren't always 'monsters' sometimes it's the humans. I wholeheartedly agree, there are many case when humans do things that are much more awful than than the witches, werewolves, shapeshifters or vampires. There are even cases where Bill Compton is so sweet and lovely it makes me want to barf my load.
The article goes on to suggest that hatred is fuelled by ignorance. People tend to do harm when they are greedy, angry, too proud etc or they use religion to judge others. Wow, that's a bit of an understatement. Judging others is a very crappy thing that happens everyday, making sweeping generalisations and not finding out the truth leads to a whole big box of trouble, plus it makes you feel like a total arse when it goes wrong.
True Blood shows us we tend to question who we are, we try to work out fact from fiction, illusion from truth. It's only by challenging our belief systems that we can progress in life.
Sometimes in life the abnormal and strange becomes the norm in your life. It tends to creep in subtly so that we don't notice. Then it's the normal everyday things that are most precious.
Anyway, after I read the full article, I had a coffee and pondered over what I had read. Could there really be all that in a tv program about a telepathic waitress who prefers to shag dead people rather than alive ones?
Apparently so, I actually found that I agreed with the article. The more I thought about it, the more I thought that this lady does have a point. Maybe we can learn from True Blood.
Vampires, Werewolves, Witches and Faes...oh my!!
For the next 30 days, along with my regular blogs, I shall be blogging about one of the great loves of my life.
This is the series of books known as ‘The Southern Vampire Mysteries’ written by Charlaine Harris these are also known as the Sookie Stackhouse books or the True Blood books. I know that you will probably have heard of at least one of these, but in case you haven’t been lucky enough to fall in love with Bon Temp yet, Ill give you a little introduction about Sookie’s world on paper and on TV, because they are actually different in some ways.
Now that we have that bit out of the way, Ill start with a quick introduction to Bon Temp.
How would the world react if we woke up to the news on BBC News, CNN, MSNBC, Sky News etc? That all the stories that we thought were based on a novel by Bram Stoker were actually real?
There really were creatures out there in the world who wanted to drink your blood? What about vampire blood? If humans consumed it could they gain special powers like vampires? Would it become the drug of choice over Cocaine, Ecstasy, Heroin and the like?
An interesting concept that many urban fantasy fiction writers cover, but there is something really special about Bon Temp that keeps me coming back for more.
Maybe it is because Charlaine Harris and Alan Ball have managed to create such fabulous characters and bind them together in a wonderful small town in Louisiana. I’ve added Alan Ball into that as some characters that have lesser roles in the books have bigger parts in the TV series and indeed Jessica Hamby didn’t exist in the books at all.
Merlotte’s Bar and Grill is where many of the characters work and where Sookie meets her first vampire, Bill Compton her next door neighbour. It seems like a really good place to work, with Sam being a superb boss.
Hopefully I’ve given you a bit of a taster for what’s to come in my next 29 blogs about Bon Temp, Sookie Stackhouse and the rest of the True Blood gang.
http://fangathon.wordpress.com/tag/30-night-fang-a-thon/
This is the series of books known as ‘The Southern Vampire Mysteries’ written by Charlaine Harris these are also known as the Sookie Stackhouse books or the True Blood books. I know that you will probably have heard of at least one of these, but in case you haven’t been lucky enough to fall in love with Bon Temp yet, Ill give you a little introduction about Sookie’s world on paper and on TV, because they are actually different in some ways.
11th May 2012 Vampires, Werewolves, Witches and Faes…oh my!
True Blood and The Sookie Stackhouse books are set in an alternate reality where vampires have come out the proverbial coffin and proclaimed their existence to the world. They don’t have to drink blood anymore as it is now synthesised and bottled under the name True Blood and even comes in different blood types. Very convenient for the discerning vamp about town who wishes to stay within the law.
There really were creatures out there in the world who wanted to drink your blood? What about vampire blood? If humans consumed it could they gain special powers like vampires? Would it become the drug of choice over Cocaine, Ecstasy, Heroin and the like?
Merlotte’s Bar and Grill is where many of the characters work and where Sookie meets her first vampire, Bill Compton her next door neighbour. It seems like a really good place to work, with Sam being a superb boss.May 8, 2012
Lions, Tigers and Bears, Oh My!
I don't know if you remember the story about a guy who let all his animals loose then committed suicide? It was October last year in Ohio. The police ended up killing the majority of them and, of course, the pictures were all over the news about how the police had slain these innocent animals needlessly.
Being the kind of tree-hugging hippy, Wiccan earth mother that I am, I did wonder if there was maybe some other action that could have been taken. I mean come on, surely the Muskingum County Sheriff's office could have called Snow White to charm all the animals back into their small cages?
Unfortunately Snow White wasn't available and it wasn't bluebirds and bunnies it was lions and tigers and bears and monkeys and wolves...... That kind of puts a different slant on it.
Anyway, I'm not here to judge whether what Sheriff Lutz, Deputy Merry, a SWAT team and zoo specialist type people did or did not do wrong. I'm after all, sitting on a couch, looking out my window to the sun, I'm not in the pitch dark, being stalked by a 400lb hungry, pissed off lion knowing that even with my asthma inhaler, there is no way I'd ever be able to outrun it....
I'm sorry, but self preservation would probably take over and I'm not sure I could put all my hope & prayers to what ever goddess or god you believe in, that the big kitty would want to play with a ball of wool and not my head.
So, why am I blogging about this now? Well Terry Thompson's widow, Marian got the surviving 2 monkeys, a brown bear and 2 leopards back from quarantine. When they were released from the Ohio Zoo, she promptly took them back to the farm where her husband and other animals died.
To me that has quite a high ick factor, but never mind, I'm not here to judge her actions. I'll admit that I think of my GSD as my fur-baby, I like a cuddle at her but she is a domesticated animal, not a bloody leopard. Having a dog sleep on your bed, isn't quite the same as keeping a monkey in a bird cage, cuddling a full grown bear and sharing your bed with a lion.
My concern is with the animals safety, security and welfare. I am no animal expert but when I saw where these 'exotic animals' were being kept, I didn't consider it to be right. I don't think they are living in very secure or very big cages and I know for certain I wouldn't be happy living next door in case my son became lunch for a bear.
It's ironic that though that someone is able to keep these exotic animals in unsavoury conditions and they can't be taken from her, however if Marian Thompson had a pitbull, it could be removed from her care through Ohio's BSL law.
It's horrible to think that 18 tigers, 17 lions, 8 bears, 3 cougars, 2 wolves and 2 monkeys died that dark October night in 2011, it wasn't their fault, they were doing what comes naturally. What I think is more the issue is the conditions they were kept in.
For the background story go to www.esquire.com/features/zanesville-0312
http://blog.nativefoods.com/nativefoods/2011/10/lions-and-tigers-and-bearsohio.html
Being the kind of tree-hugging hippy, Wiccan earth mother that I am, I did wonder if there was maybe some other action that could have been taken. I mean come on, surely the Muskingum County Sheriff's office could have called Snow White to charm all the animals back into their small cages? Unfortunately Snow White wasn't available and it wasn't bluebirds and bunnies it was lions and tigers and bears and monkeys and wolves...... That kind of puts a different slant on it.
Anyway, I'm not here to judge whether what Sheriff Lutz, Deputy Merry, a SWAT team and zoo specialist type people did or did not do wrong. I'm after all, sitting on a couch, looking out my window to the sun, I'm not in the pitch dark, being stalked by a 400lb hungry, pissed off lion knowing that even with my asthma inhaler, there is no way I'd ever be able to outrun it....
I'm sorry, but self preservation would probably take over and I'm not sure I could put all my hope & prayers to what ever goddess or god you believe in, that the big kitty would want to play with a ball of wool and not my head.
So, why am I blogging about this now? Well Terry Thompson's widow, Marian got the surviving 2 monkeys, a brown bear and 2 leopards back from quarantine. When they were released from the Ohio Zoo, she promptly took them back to the farm where her husband and other animals died.
To me that has quite a high ick factor, but never mind, I'm not here to judge her actions. I'll admit that I think of my GSD as my fur-baby, I like a cuddle at her but she is a domesticated animal, not a bloody leopard. Having a dog sleep on your bed, isn't quite the same as keeping a monkey in a bird cage, cuddling a full grown bear and sharing your bed with a lion.
My concern is with the animals safety, security and welfare. I am no animal expert but when I saw where these 'exotic animals' were being kept, I didn't consider it to be right. I don't think they are living in very secure or very big cages and I know for certain I wouldn't be happy living next door in case my son became lunch for a bear. It's ironic that though that someone is able to keep these exotic animals in unsavoury conditions and they can't be taken from her, however if Marian Thompson had a pitbull, it could be removed from her care through Ohio's BSL law.
For the background story go to www.esquire.com/features/zanesville-0312
http://blog.nativefoods.com/nativefoods/2011/10/lions-and-tigers-and-bearsohio.html
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